American International Group defamed and maliciously prosecuted a couple whose child was sexually molested by an employee of a Virgin Islands hotel, in a vicious attempt to fight off claims for the AIG client, though its pedophile employee already had been convicted and imprisoned, the parents claim in Federal Court.

Paul Gayter claims the Wyndham Sugar Bay Beach Club & Resort in St. Thomas employed Bryan Hornby, who sexually abused Gayter's daughter at the club. Hornby was sentenced to 5 years in prison for this, Gayter says.

He claims that to fight off his liability claim, AIG falsely accused him of immigration fraud and money laundering, hired nine law firms that deposed him seven times, at a cost of $400,000, in an abuse of process so vicious that it sparked the June 2005 "Business Week" article: "Tough Tactics - Against A Victim: What are Wyndham and AIG taking a hard line in a child molestation case?"

Represented by Bode & Grenier, Gayter demands $5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.